Greetings caring viewers,
and welcome to
Enlightening Entertainment.
From the silent spread
of drought,
to the dramatic loss of ice
in the Arctic and
Antarctic lairs, the perils
of climate change
are accelerating,
catching all
too many of us unaware.
Fortunately,
they have been brought
to light before our eyes
through informative
and creative media,
including films.
They shed light on how
these complex situations
affect our lives and
call us to bold action.
Please join us
as we come to know
some of these films
and their creators who
have made it a mission
to help save this planet
we called home.
We’re doing what
no wild animal will do;
we’re fouling our own nest.
The 2006 documentary,
“An Inconvenient Truth,”
produced by
former US Vice President
and Nobel Laureate
Al Gore, has been
credited for raising
real global awareness
on climate change.
In 2007, “The 11th Hour,”
was released as made by
the famous American
actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
From political leaders
to celebrities,
voices of concern were
speaking ever louder,
especially through film.
In 2007 and 2009,
Disneynature made two
spectacular documentaries.
“Earth” showed
the beauty of wildlife
and the harsh ways
their habitats are threatened.
“Oceans” dived into
the mysterious depths to
see the amazing creatures
that inhabit most of
the planet’s surface.
But the life force of
the Earth’s flora and fauna
are becoming
more fragile each day.
And as their co-inhabitants,
human lives
are precarious as well.
Award-winning Irish
American filmmaker
Michael Nash traveled
around the world to collect
first-hand testimonies
from climate victims who
are being uprooted due to
the unlivable conditions.
His heart-wrenching
documentary,
“Climate Refugees,”
was released in 2010.
As climate change issues
made us see ourselves
as connected with
a greater environment,
some filmmakers made it
a point to broaden
our viewpoint even further:
we are connected
with the environment and
all the lives in it as well.
In 2005, US director
Shaun Monson presented
his multi-award-winning
documentary “Earthlings,”
which explores the
interspecies relationship
between humans and
other species on Earth.
Mr. Monson discussed
the film’s title, which is
also its central concept.
I kept thinking,
“Well what would be
a good title that
encompassed everything?”
What term,
what definition could
there be no division among?
What word encompassed
the animal-human-tree?
You know, “Earthlings,”
that seems to be
the most fitting.
If you look at the cover
of the DVD as well,
it has a leaf
and it has this cow
and it has a human in it.
It says, “Nature . . .
make the connection”
between
the three Earthlings,
and so that was the idea
for the title.
American photographer
and director
Louie Psihoyos,
also illustrates the
human-animal relationship
in his documentary
“The Cove,” which won
the 2010 Academy Award
for Best Documentary Film.
Both “Earthlings” and
“The Cove” send
a powerful message
that our disregard
for the planet and
for our co-inhabitants
must be stopped if
humanity is to be redeemed.
One of the tragic ironies
of this movie
is that the dolphin
is the only wild animal
throughout history to save
the life of a human being.
The only way that we can
save the life of a dolphin
now is to prove that
we made his environment
so toxic, that we can
no longer eat them.
It shows you the amount
of respect that we lost
for the animal and
the amount of respect
that we lost for ourselves.
As the Executive Director
of the Oceanic
Preservation Society,
Mr. Psihoyos also talks
about the dire situation
of our oceans
which is endangering
all the marine species.
The dead zones are
increasing in number and
they’re increasing in size.
We’re trying
to solve the problem
in one little cove, but
it’s really a microcosm
of what’s going on
in the oceans.
With all the fertilizers and
run-offs and pesticides,
it’s killing the oceans.
If the global temperature
rise exceeds
2 degrees Celsius,
many islands
and coastal regions
will be among the first to
face increased disasters
on a most frightening scale.
In 2010,
a Formosan (Taiwanese)
documentary to bring
this reality closer to home.
The film, produced by
the famed Formosan
(Taiwanese) media
personality Sisy Chen,
is called “±2 Degrees C.”
On a global scale,
the first group of people
who might be wiped out
the most vulnerable are
those on the islands in the
Pacific Ocean and Africa.
Next, it affects the Asian
countries like Formosa.
I’m so much concerned
about climate change,
because I don’t want
our future generations
to question us, just as
I’m questioning the need
for more concrete action
on climate change today.
If the situation
doesn’t change,
any one of us can become
the next climate refugee.
So, what is the best way
to stop global warming?
More respected
filmmakers respond,
when we return.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television.
The central driving issue
behind the show is one of
the most important issues
facing all of us today,
and that is the
desecration of the planet,
and global warming,
and how we can reverse
the horrible trend of what
can happen to this planet.
If you look at a planet
like Venus,
Venus is suffering
from global warming;
and the Earth can easily
go that way.
Welcome back to
Enlightening Entertainment
and our program
featuring environmental
films and filmmakers and
their timely messages.
Through
appealing storylines
and state-of-the-art
special effects, eco-dramas
and science fiction
movies such as
“The Day After Tomorrow,”
“2012,” and “Avatar”
remind people
of the importance
of preventing
irreversible harm or loss
of our one and only planet.
Eminent US filmmaker
James Cameron wrote
and directed “Avatar.”
There is an interesting
thing that is happening
with “Avatar,” that a lot
of environmental people
who represent various
causes are coming to me
and saying,
‘Can we do something in
connection with Avatar?’
To celebrate Earth Day
and its DVD release,
the box-office hit “Avatar”
teamed up with
Earth Day Network
to plant one million trees
by the end of 2010.
Maybe this film can do
more than just sort of
be a movie that
kind of makes people
think about something.
Maybe it can actually
be a way to focus energy
on certain specific causes
and specific places where
people can take action.
The mesmerizing beauty
of our planet and
the shocking impacts
humans have had on it
are depicted vividly
via aerial-only view
in the 2008 documentary,
“Home.”
This film was the result
of the hard work
of renowned
French photographer
Yann Arthus-Bertrand
to present the large scale
of the human impact
on the environment.
“HOME,” produced by
distinguished filmmaker
Luc Besson, was
simultaneously released
in dozens of countries,
via theaters, television,
and the internet,
free of charge.
This was the wish
of director and
2009 United Nations
Environment Program
Goodwill Ambassador
Yann Arthus-Bertrand,
who ceded
his author’s rights
in order to reach
as many people
as possible.
I made this film for you.
Please share it.
People told me that
“HOME” is
an impossible initiative.
So I would like to tell you
tonight:
Let’s believe together
in impossible initiatives.
Let’s believe in it.
The film also addresses
the environmental damage
caused by
the livestock raising.
Nowadays
Eating less meat
is certainly
a healthier way of living.
Eating less meat is to send
less CO2 and methane
in the atmosphere.
Because meat is
unfortunately responsible
for huge deforestation.
We know that the solutions
are there today.
We all have the power
to change.
Conscientious
French filmmakers,
Mr. Pierre Barougier and
Mr. Olivier Bourgeois,
produced
an eco-documentary,
“Nous resterons sur terre,”
or “Here to Stay,”
released in 2009.
It was chosen by
the United Nations
Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO)
to be screened ahead of
the 2009 Copenhagen
Climate Change Conference.
In this film, the directors
address humans’
exploitative relationship
toward the planet,
including factory farming.
This system of intensive
livestock farming and
the massive production
of meat, has already
disastrous effects
on the environment.
If all agricultural land
occupied by
those livestock farms, by
soy cultivation necessary
to feed the livestock,
would be used to produce
grain and vegetables
and fruit to feed
the entire population
of this planet,
we could reduce hunger
in the world
to a large extent.
As early as 1995,
a succinct documentary
“Devour the Earth”
clearly illustrated the
environmental consequences
of human activities
and the effects
of the meat-based diet.
Fifteen years later,
the film’s ultimate message
remains true.
Taking off where
“An Inconvenient Truth”
leaves off,
“Meat the Truth,”
a 2008 Dutch documentary,
shows how the livestock
industry worldwide emits
more greenhouse gases
than all the transportation
sources combined.
What are your hopes
for the movie?
I hope that a lot, a lot of
people will see this movie
and it will change
their way of thinking,
and they in the end
are going to eat less meat.
“Meat the Truth”
was presented by
Dutch Parliament Member
Ms. Marianne Thieme.
We are here surrounded
by people
who are interested
in the number one cause
of global warming and
that is the meat industry.
Well, it's great to see
that the movie
is well received.
It's just the start
of a world tour
on compassion.
The severe drought
in Australia in 2003
motivated
the young filmmaker
Aaron Scheibner
to produce his
remarkable documentary,
“A Delicate Balance –
the Truth,”
released in 2008.
It’s a feature-length
documentary.
The two main themes
of the film are health
and the environment.
Health details how
the over-consumption
of animal protein,
specifically meat
and dairy, is contributing
to ill health in the world.
The rise of cancer,
diabetes, and obesity
are linked to this and also
how animal agriculture
contributes
to global warming
more than cars combined.
I’ve spoken to a lot of
people about that, and
some people think it’s
too simple to switch to a
vegetarian or vegan diet
and that will solve
a lot of problems.
It may be simple but
I think it is the answer.
Preserving this
precious planet is
everyone’s responsibility
and a privilege.
This is the message that
Emmy-Award-winning
producer, director, writer,
and cinematographer
Lionel Friedberg,
who is also a vegan,
conveyed in the powerful
2007 documentary,
“A Sacred Duty:
Applying Jewish Values
to Help Heal the World.”
That’s what
“A Sacred Duty” is about.
Global warming is here.
What are we doing
about it?
Well, you've got
to change your diet,
and what does that do?
It stops the desecration
and destruction
of rainforests.
It stops the destruction
of all the land that we’re
giving over to growing
crops to feed animals.
It stops the amount
of methane
that comes from cows.
You can
make a difference!
By changing your diet
and by being
peace-loving and
by living a peaceful,
compassionate lifestyle.
And all it’s about is what
you put on that plate
for breakfast, for lunch,
and for dinner.
That’s where you make
a difference.
Our gratitude,
all the esteemed
environmental filmmakers,
for delivering
such important messages
to the millions with
your keen perception,
profound knowledge,
and deep commitment
to saving the planet.
May such engaging
presentations prompt us
to do our part, starting with
the Earth-saving veg diet.
Hi, my name is
Shaun Monson
and I am the director of
the film “Earthlings” and
I'm here to say,
please be veg,
go green
and save the planet!
Thank you.
I am Sisy Chen.
“±2 Degrees C.”
Be veg,
go green,
save the planet.
Be veg,
go green,
save the planet.
Thoughtful viewers,
thank you
for joining us today.
Coming up next is
Words of Wisdom,
after Noteworthy News,
here on
Supreme Master Television.
Blessed be
your noble endeavors.
In the book,
“Dead Mars, Dying Earth,”
US theoretical
plasma physicist
John E. Brandenburg
explains some of
the latest developments
in the study of Mars and
their implications for the
future of our own planet.
It’s a wonderful thing
to be living in this age
where we’re finally
getting the answers
to all these mysteries
we used to wonder about.
They used to think there
were canals on Mars.
Well, there weren’t
any canals but there are
water channels.
There’s everything on
Mars that they actually
imagined there was
but it isn’t quite the same
as they imagined it.
Join us for Part 2 of
our intriguing interview
with
Dr. John Brandenburg,
Monday, April 26 on
Science and Spirituality.